If you are about to embark on an office refurbishment project and want to have a go at your office layout, then our first piece of advice would be to ask an office furniture dealer for some help.
Most will draw up plans for you for little or no cost, and all will be able to offer you some very useful advice.
There are many pitfalls which will catch out the unwary and inexperienced, and these might turn into costly mistakes, as it is very difficult to send unwanted furniture items back.
However, even before you consult a professional it is at least worth having an idea of how you would like to design your office, and you need to draw up brief to give to the planner.

This brief will give them the basic information about your company, what you do, which staff work together, how many metres of storage per member of staff you have, and what type of storage this is. You will also need to have an idea of your budget per member of staff.

Decent quality office furniture is expensive, but will last a long time and will be ergonomically designed and comfortable. However it is a good investment and getting it right will pay you dividends in terms of staff well-being, productivity, and reduced absenteeism.

So where do you start?

The most important thing to remember is that most people over estimate the size of their office and underestimate the size of office desks and related furniture.  There are also basic guidelines with regard to access and corridor space which are often overlooked.

So the first thing to do is to draw up your office space to scale. You can either do this the traditional way on a big sheet of graph paper or find one of the many cheap but simple CAD drawing packages on the market.  Most of these will have basic desk shapes on them, but if you have gone the traditional route then just cut out scale templates of the furniture.

You can then move them about to see what you can come up with.  When you have a layout you like and it works, taking a picture of it is the best way of saving it.

Some of the basic guidelines with regards to space are as follows:-

Desk sizes – The depth should ideally be 80cm if you have a flat screen, and the minimum width should be 100 cm (without under-desk drawer units). You don’t need the desk to be curved but they are a good idea if the office desk is mainly for computer use, as sitting into a concave curve provides the user with good support for the forearms.

Chair space. The absolute minimum gap between the user side of the desk anything behind, such as another office chair or a wall is 80cm. It seems a lot but if you don’t allow this space, chairs, people, and walls will clash. Where space is tight a curved desk can be useful as, instead of two persons sitting back to back, they are sitting at an angle, effectively increasing the space behind their desk.

Access space.  Main thoroughfares with two way traffic should ideally be 120cm wide, and this can be reduced a little if the access is only used by a limited number of people – for example if two persons needed to get to their desks at the end of a row of desks, fitted into an alcove.
If the access or corridor space is a designated fire exit route, then the minimum width is 120cm, and nothing must intrude into this space.

These are only some very basic guidelines, but they might just help to start you off in the right direction.

And always remember that once you have come up with a plan you like, make sure that you buy office furniture which fits the plan. Heavy looking dark wood furniture may look nice in the brochure but a lighter, more delicate design of desk will make a packed office look less so.
Equally, heavily padded wood framed leather executive armchairs will make your office look much smaller than if you use ergonomically designed operator chairs upholstered in a light or vibrant fabric.

So by all means do some of the preliminary work yourself, but do get professional help and advice before you spend any money.  A little extra cost at the beginning may save you a great deal in the end

WE SHOULD HAVE GOT SOME PLANNING HELP